As a member of the Republican Jobs and the Economy Taskforce, I am committed to promoting America’s economic recovery; however, concerns of a recession continue to mount due to President Biden’s mismanagement of the economy. The June jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the weakest overall job growth since April 2021. This comes at a time when 57 percent of Americans say the actions of the federal government have hurt their family over the last six months, according to a recent Monmouth University Poll. This number is the highest Monmouth has ever recorded and overshadows the number of Americans saying federal actions over the same period have helped them, at 8 percent.
Wage growth continues to lag well behind inflation, putting overwhelming pressure on families and small businesses. Yet President Biden and Democrats in Congress are calling for policies to push an unprecedented burden onto taxpayers and fuel inflation – such as student loan cancellation.
According to estimates by the Department of Education, the ongoing moratorium on federal student loan payments is costing taxpayers over $200 billion each month. The Biden administration has extended the emergency moratorium on federal student loan payments and interest four times since he took office. While the moratorium on student loan payments in March 2020 served its intended purpose while much of our country was shut down, America has reopened, and the time to let it expire is long overdue.
In addition to leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for outstanding student loan debt, proposals to cancel student debt will only fuel inflation while benefiting some of the highest earners. Out of the $1.6 trillion in federal student loans owed, 48 percent are held by households whose borrowers earned graduate degrees. Furthermore, research by the University of Chicago finds full loan forgiveness would distribute about $190 billion to the top 20 percent of earners and only about $30 billion to the bottom 20 percent.
In order to ensure federal loan assistance is directed to help those who truly need it, I am a cosponsor of H.R. 8006, the Student Loan Accountability Act. This bill would prohibit the mass cancellation of student loans. I am also a cosponsor of H.R. 7058, the Federal Student Loan Integrity Act – a bill to prohibit the Secretary of Education from extending the student loan repayment moratorium while also prohibiting any future administration from carrying out widespread student loan forbearance or other significant changes for more than thirty days at a time.
In addition, I support legislation which would require certain political appointees and Senior Executive Service employees to disclose balances for all federal student loans. In fact, Bloomberg has reported more than $4.7 million in student debt is held by the fraction of White House staffers required to file disclosures under the Ethics in Government Act.
As the cost to pursue higher degrees continues to swell, we must pursue solutions to help make college more affordable. Widespread forgiveness will not only drive inflation even further; it also fails to address the drivers of massive student debt. For the long-term success of our workforce and strength of our job markets, we should ensure students are informed of the financial risks associated with taking on large amounts of student debt and are aware of all career options available to them. With the current share of the national debt at nearly $250,000 per taxpayer, we cannot afford to incentivize mass default.